Middle East

10:01 pm

Tue October 4, 2011

Even In Lebanon, No Safe Haven For Syrian Dissidents

Lebanese and Syrian protesters demonstrate against the Syrian government in Beirut in August. Syrian defectors say they fear the Syrian regime will track them down, even in Lebanon.

Anwar AmroAFP/Getty Images

Syrian exiles, both defecting soldiers and civilian protesters, have slipped across the border into northern Lebanon seeking safety from the Syrian government and its relentless crackdown on opponents.

But even here, they can literally hear the shooting from across the border in the restive Syrian town of Homs, less than 20 miles away. They express fear that President Bashar Assad's forces will track them down in Lebanon. Those most at risk are army defectors who are hiding out in small Lebanese villages.

At one safe house in northern Lebanon, there's an army lieutenant who quit his command rather than follow orders to shoot unarmed civilians.

He says more than half of the members of Syria's army now sympathize with the protest movement, though such claims are impossible to independently verify. The ex-officer, who asked that he not be identified, says many soldiers would like to join the rebel forces, but it remains extremely dangerous to defect.

"There is no safe place," he says. The defectors "will stay as small groups separated in the country. People in the army, soldiers and officers, don't know where to go now."

A few units have defected together, declaring themselves part of an underground group called the Free Syrian Army. More often, defectors escape alone and stay in hiding, or leave the country, like the ex-lieutenant who hid for 25 days until he could find someone to smuggle him to Lebanon.

Still At Risk

But even here, he knows he's not safe. Syrian army units regularly infiltrate into northern Lebanon. Some refugees have been kidnapped and taken back across the border. By defecting, soldiers place their families at risk of harsh retaliation inside Syria. He also says that rebel groups are no match for the regime.

"This is not a war between two armies," he says.

The central Syrian town of Rastan was one hub for soldiers who quit the army and joined the protest movement. They fought against more than 200 Syrian tanks in the most prolonged battle since the protests began seven months ago. But the Syrian army recently retook the town and crushed the challenge by army defectors.

"You can't face a big army like the Syrian army or security forces here. One tank can kill all of them," he says.

Dozens were killed in Rastan, both civilians as well as rebel fighters and army defectors, he says. More than 3,000 in Rastan were reportedly detained. Violence is now rising in the nearby town of Homs, another hub for army defectors who have vowed to protect peaceful demonstrations.

"Protesters will be killed like sheep in the streets if nobody tries to protect them," he adds.

Protesters Have Also Fled

Another resident of this safe house bears the scars of the uprising. In Homs, a pro-government militia used an ambulance as cover and opened fire on a crowd, says 23-year-old Hassan, who declines to give his last name. He was hit in the face with a bullet that pierced his cheek and left him blind in one eye.

It was too dangerous to take him to a Syrian hospital. Wounded protesters in Syrian hospitals have been killed by pro-government militias. Despite his wound, Hassan wants to go back to his city of Homs, where the sounds of the fighting can carry across the border.

"Sometimes I do hear it, especially when they are bombing with tanks or heavy guns," he says.

Hassan and the army defector sit on thin mattresses — the only furniture in these bare rooms. They do not reveal their full names, even to each other in case one of them is kidnapped.

The ex-lieutenant has heard the stories about the highest-ranking military defector so far, an army colonel, who was snatched by Syrian agents in Turkey and forced to appear on Syrian television. Activists have since reported his death after torture in detention.

Call To Keep Uprising Peaceful

But the ex-lieutenant says he will support rebel units any way he can, while still believing that the protests should remain nonviolent.

"Until this moment, the revolution is still peaceful," he says. "But the only way to stay peaceful is to give weapons to these ex-soldiers."

Protesters and ordinary civilians need protecting, he says. They are the ones on the street facing the regime's security forces, he adds, noting that he speaks from firsthand experience. When his commander ordered him to shoot civilians, he ordered his men to fire into the air instead.

"When you do this, and my officers knew that I gave such orders, I felt that I would be eliminated there," he says.

Fearing he would be shot by government snipers, he escaped alone, without his weapon. He finally made it across the Lebanese border two weeks ago. He gave his military identification to a friend and told him to hide it. He is now in hiding himself, not knowing when or if he will return to Syria.